The Scottish Organisation for Practice Teaching

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Attachment-led early years practice: a seminar with Suzanne Zeedyk

3rd November 2017

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In our society, caring for children usually includes a large component of professional input. We use the language of ‘services’ to describe that input. Yet the science tells us that children aren’t looking for services. They want relationships. Human beings are physiologically driven to seek out emotional connection with others, and especially with the adults who are significant in their lives - be this at home, with friends or within childcare settings.

This workshop will:

Reflect on these observations

Review the key scientific insights that help us to understand the human drive for relationships

Compare this to the ways in which professional services are currently conceived, designed and delivered.

This will then provide the opportunity for attendees to work with each other and Dr Zeedyk to identify mismatches between children’s services and children’s needs - and to explore how that gap might be closed.

Facilitator bio

Dr. Suzanne Zeedyk is a research scientist fascinated by babies’ innate capacity to connect. Since 1993, she has been based at the University of Dundee (Scotland), within the School of Psychology. Her academic career began in the USA, where she completed her PhD at Yale University.

In 2011, Suzanne stepped away from a full-time academic post in order to establish an independent training enterprise. Its aim is to help the public understand all that science has discovered about the importance of emotional connection for human health and happiness. It’s working! Approximately 40,000 people have now attended her speaking events, and she reaches over 50,000 people a week on social media. She works internationally with organisations who are keen to think more deeply about fostering connection, compassion and resilience.

In 2014, Suzanne broadened her public reach even further by founding the organization connected baby. She and her team work to help parents and professionals make practical use of the science of connection. Relationships matter – as much for human brains as for human hearts.

Suzanne’s core aspiration continues to be strengthening awareness of the decisions we take about caring for our children — because those choices are integrally connected to our vision for the kind of society we wish to build.